Google’s New Trans-Pacific FASTER Cable Is Ready

A consortium of six companies, including Google, Global Transit, and Singtel, have successfully tested their new FASTER cable, a system that comprises a single huge cable running underneath the Pacific Ocean from Oregon to Japan. The cable is roughly 9,000 kilometers long, and it boasts speeds of up to 60 Terabits per second. This new addition to the data infrastructure available to Google will allow them to better support the needs of their customers. It is believed that this cable could increase the digital economy not only in the United States and Japan, but throughout the entire Internet.

The FASTER cable is the first of its kind to offer such prodigious speed and connectivity. It was first announced in August of 2014, and the service will go online starting June 30, 2016. Even though it is considered a single cable, it has multiple connection points along the United States west coast, which increases overall speed through the region via a direct connection. In Japan, the cable splits and lands in two main hubs located in Mie and Chiba. The goal of the project from the very beginning was to go as fast as possible, and this consortium of companies succeeded.

The companies contracted the construction of the cable to NEC Corporation, and it was the first cable of its kind built by them. They constructed the cable with the most advanced in data transfer technology, including 100Gbps optical transmission with digital coherence. They were met with many challenges, but they successfully completed one of the greatest technological achievements in recent years.